Source:Sci-fi Channel Interview, 23 April 1995
Sci-fi Channel Interview April 23, 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan; From: donh@netcom.com (Don HARLOW); Subject: The Words of The Creator; Date: Tue, 25 Apr 1995 05:14:05 GMT Interview with Robert Jordan on the Sci-Fi Channel, evening, 23 April 1995. I = Interviewer, RJ = The Creator. Some minor stammers omitted. I: ... Robert Jordan is one of the most popular story-tellers today. His multi-volume books _The Wheel of Time_ have created a phenomenon with over two million copies in print. Not only is Jordan one of the most read and talked-about authors today but he is one of the hotter topics on the internet computer network. I: What do fans tell you they like so much about your writing? RJ: It's a different thing for every person. I: Really? RJ: Yes. I: What do the women like? RJ: The women like the women. I was told by a number of women who came to a signing several years ago that they were surprised to find out that I was a man. They thought no man could write women like that. And I like this because my editor used to say that I couldn't write women at all. I find this a very sweet revenge. I: Jordan, a veteran of the Vietnam war, has definitely connected with his audience, both male and female. And he has some definite thoughts as to why fantasy literature is so popular. RJ: Two things, really, I think. One, you can talk about good and evil, right and wrong, and nobody tells you that you're being judgemental. And the other thing is, in fantasy there's always the belief that you can overcome whatever obstacles there are, that you _can_ make tomorrow better. And not only that you _can_, but that you _will_, if you work at it. I: Do you remember when you conceived _The Wheel of Time_ series? RJ: The first thought that came to me was what would it be like, what would it really be like, to be tapped on the shoulder and told you were born to be the saviour of mankind. And I then very quickly thought, what would happen if the saviour of mankind really showed up and he was really there to save the world from impending doom, what would the real response of the world be? And after ten or twelve years of knocking around in my head, because I always give my books a long lead time, that turned into _The Wheel of Time_. I: Jordan's books have been called a combination of Robin Hood and Stephen King. He manages to create characters that seem real, perhaps because he uses many of his own personal experiences in the telling of these epic stories. I: Do you ever use your experiences in Vietnam in your stories? RJ: Yes, indirectly. I know what it's like to have somebody trying to kill you. I know what it's like to try to kill somebody. And I know what it's like to actually kill somebody. These things I think help with writing about people being in danger, or especially if it's in danger of violence ... which happens occasionally in my books. I: Meanwhile Jordan continues to work on the next volume of _The Wheel of Time_ series with no idea when he'll finally wrap the whole thing up. RJ: I know where I'm going. I: You do? RJ: I know where I'm going. I know the last scene of the last book. I could write it now. I could have written it before I started this series. I know how all of the major story lines are going to resolve. I just have to get there. And I'm not sure how many books it's going to take. There are going to be several more books. There are going to be some more books. There are going to be a few more books. But not too many. I: No telling how many volumes _The Wheel of Time_ will eventually get. But with Robert Jordan as the author, you can bet that we're in for some very interesting reading. Robert Jordan '95 Interview with Sci-Fi channel / Carolyn Fusinato http://web.archive.org/web/19990302034340/uts.cc.utexas.edu/~moiraine/jordan/files/sf-chan.html or http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan/msg/d4091c40c833eb3d Category:Conversations with Robert Jordan Category:Interviews